To The Company Authorities & Customer Care, (13th Sep 2010)
I bought the I 20 Asta, 1.4 CRDI E-III (17 digit number: MALBB51SR9M104098) in October. My belief then was that Hyundai was relaible, sturdy & durable which pushed me to cross the 7L mark price for a hatch back, a slightly steep price for a diesel hatch. However, today I am thoroughly disappointed with the product & have lost faith in Hyundai. The product has not delivered even close to the expectation when it comes to durability & reliability. The service standards & the approach of the company authorities towards certain issues which are ‘manufacturing defects’ and have appeared in almost all batches of I 20, have left me rather disappointed & let down!
0-600 KMS Run:
-The car was a pleasure to drive & the gear shift & clutch was smooth & functioned like the car I test drove before booking one last October.
-The only issue that I started suspecting at this stage was a shaky suspension & a very mild rattle on the steering while driving over bumpy roads & pot holes.
At 1000-1200 KMS RUN:
-The drive & the pickup of the car was as good as it was when new
-However, the front left suspension or the shocker probably started making a loud BANG ‘Katak’ kind of sound if the left side encountered a deepish pot hole or a sudden sharp bump
-The overall suspension felt more bumpy & shakier than before
-The steering rattle noise when driving over bumpy uneven roads had increased considerably & on mentioning the same at first service at Hindustan Hyundai I was told its negligible & will not increase & that I should ignore it.
At 2500 KMS RUN:
-The front left suspension/shocker bang-‘Katak’ sound became a regular feature whenever the left tyre ran into a little pot hole & seemed like a definite manufacturing/design issue
-The steering rattle noise became stronger & more apparent & the vibrations on the steering increased significantly
-The suspension become more shaky & vibrations in the cabin increased considerably
At 5000-10000 KMS RUN:
-The front left suspension issue & noise continued
-The steering noise increased more & had to be looked into at 2nd service & vibrations increased
-The average dropped by 1.5 -2 kms/ltr
-The clutch became much harder than before (& there was no clutch riding as I drive the car on my own)
-The brakes started making a weird uncomfortable noise
-The suspension seemed to have become softer & the vibrations on the slightest of bumps became bigger
-The pick up dropped & the engine noise increased significantly
When I Approached the Service Centre for 2nd service & complaint redressal-Hindustan Hyundai, Jaipur on the 9th Sep 2010:
There was chaos & confusion & there was no one to attend to me in the 1st 15 mins. After 15-20 mins a supervisor approached me & another person drove my car like with utmost rashness with screeching & skidding like he was on a ‘car drifting’ holiday. The manager seemed helpless & casual & I was committed 2 hours time for the service, when I reached at 11 AM.
The mechanic changed the ‘Air Filter’, the ‘Oil Filter’, The engine oil etc & gave me an estimate of Rs. 3600 & then hesitantly asked informed me that it would take long if I wanted to get the steering done, when I said I was willing to wait, he opened up the steering column put some Greece etc & then put a pad etc (a direction given to all dealers by Hyundai). On the test drive at 5PM we realized the noise had increased & the steering had become even harder & had more vibrations than before. When I told the manager about the issue & how this was a defect across cars in India (a reading from online forums/reviews of 50-60 users), Mr. manger casually asked the mechanic to apply more Greece, when I questioned the logic I was told to come again the next day & that the service centre had no further solutions & they would mail the technical team & get back to me.
Today on the 13th Sep 2010 when no one go back to me I called up Mr. Manager & there was no response till late evening when I called up again. He told me to come to the service centre & realized himself that the noise had increased further but had no solution & asked the mechanic to put the car on lift to tighten the screw under the car post which there was no difference in the steering.
Post some hard talk I was given the number for the APSM Mr. Vikrant, who told me that the steering would get replaced but failed to give guarantee of non occurance as the same kind of stering would be put in the car.
The service centre informd me it doesn’t have the parts & also as I read across reviews online, changing the sterring has not solved the problem for innumerable users across India so not sure how a new steering with the same technology & design will help.
The steering problem is left un solved & all other problems mentioned above have still not even been looked into.
I am left thoroughly disappointed with the casual attitude of the company towards such a serious problem in a premium hatch back!
Following are some links from numerous other users who are facing the same issue:
https://spreadsheets.google.com/pub? key=0ApHPnn-zqi66dFRMU0N1TFhTOVVrR2N6aDRxMGNhZVE&hl=en&output=html
http://www.carwale.com/Forums/ViewThread-16944-p8.html
-Pics of the replacemenst etc across the dealerships are attached to the mail for your reference
Leaves me with ONLY one option- TO LODGE A COMPLAINT IN THE CONSUMER COMPLAINT FORUM on rounds of inconvenience & an inferior offering which does not meet the committed standards of sercive & product elivery!!
All good companys-HONDA/TOYOTA etc have called back cars with such manufacturing issues!
Please help & assist with a reasonable & permanent solution if some sensitive /responsible Hyundai person is reading this!!
Regards,
AKSHAY KAPOOR
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